We decided that a train ride must occur during out trip out west. We took the Amtrack’s Pacific Surfliner from the train station in LA down to San Diego roundtrip. It was exciting to go on my first train ride. We ended up getting to the train station late thanks to stupid LA traffic that morning and missed our train. It was confusing to find the overnight parking too which added more delay. We ended up parking in an underground parking lot in the Gateway Center Union Station.

However, unlike airplanes, we were able to get on the next train which left 1 hour later without paying any fees 🙂 Additionally the train tickets are cheaper than a flight down there.

We boarded our first train and had to leave our big luggage downstairs to go get seats upstairs. Thankfully Amtrak had Wi-Fi and power outlets available. Also a dining car that had sandwiches available. I was pleasantly surprised that my train sandwich tasted pretty good.

View from the Pacific Surfliner

The views along our route were amazing. We passed right along the coast and beaches. It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to San Diego and the train was on time. It was a very smooth ride. I’d definitely recommend the Pacific Surfliner train route.Continue Reading

We took a trip to California to visit JT’s family and see what all the fuss about California was about.

For flights we booked a from Orlando (MCO) to LA (LAX) with Virgin America. They had decent rates and comfortable seating. I liked the touch screen monitor each seat had that allowed you to select your own movie or TV show to watch. They had good movies and The Big Bang Theory episodes for free so I was pretty content. They did not have free Wi-Fi though but did have power outlets to charge devices for free.

The screens also let you order food and drinks and even send items to other passengers. The terminal for Virgin America in Orlando was in a decent location in terminal A with a food court close by. The food court had lots of healthy food options. They have Jersey Mike’s which is what I ate, a salad place, and Italian food and a bar place. Note if you’re going to be flying with Virgin there’s a difference between Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic and they aren’t the same check-in place in the airport.

The terminal in LAX was pretty crummy and cold. Of course we ended up delayed there for almost 2 hours waiting for our flight to San Francisco. The only food available nearby was gross Burger King. The LAX airport in general was quite old and dumpy looking in comparison to the Orlando airport. It’s so crappy we had to exit down the plane stairs onto the runway then up 2 flights of stairs with our carry-on luggage when we landed. They didn’t have the overhead walkway. Ugh.

This week I visited the capital of Iowa, Des Moines. Had to go there for an early morning appointment and decided to go sightseeing afterwards. Adventure time! Visited to Zombie Burger + Drink Lab and had an amazing chicken sandwich with a Zombie theme. After lunch I visited the Blank Park Zoo.